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The official residence of the President of the Philippines is Malacañan Palace, situated in the old Manila district of San Miguel.

The first recorded owner of the property is Luis Rocha, a Spaniard in the Galleon trade. The Rocha property was built of stone, described as being a relatively modest country house.

Luis Rocha sold the property in 1802 to Colonel Jose Miguel Fomento of the Spanish Army. Fomento’s testamentary executors sold it to the government upon his death in 1825, after which it was converted into a temporary residence for outgoing Governors General awaiting the next ship to Spain.

The great earthquake of June 3, 1863 felled what was up to that point the seat of power, the Palacio in Intramuros. The Governor General had to move to Malacañan Palace. It became the official residence of the Governor-General by virtue of a Superior Decree dated June 11, 1863. Throughout the next century, under the supervision of the American Governors-General and, starting 1935, the Presidents of the Philippines, buildings have been added, remodeled, expanded, demolished and rebuilt, and adjoining lands bought.

The most grandiose of these renovations happened in 1978-1979. The Palace itself was drastically remodeled and extensively rebuilt by then First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos.

It stands to this day as a sprawling complex and a symbol of political power in the country. It currently holds the office of Benigno S. Aquino III, 15th President of the Philippines.

Malacañan Palace has been featured in the PHP20 bill reverse/back side since 1969 and had been moved from the reverse to the bottom center of the obverse/front in 2010.

To commemorate the Sesquicentennial (150th) Anniversary (1863-2013) of the Palace, the Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost) is issuing a stamp with the denomination of 10 pesos. The stamp shows the Façade of Malacañan Palace from the view across the Pasig River, with the official Government Seal of the Philippines